Sanitized with surprises

For my wife when she was a girl, Hugh O'Brien was Wyatt Earp. A cleaner
better hero would be hard to find. When he finally killed someone,
Wyatt was devastated and the star portrayed it beautifully. Oddly,
there is some evidence this was historically accurate. No
semi-professional gambling, no failed businesses, no "wives" and yet
the staging of the famous Tombstone street fight was, garb apart, among
the least inaccurate. Based on Stewart Lake's imaginative biography
this series did for the 1950s what Lake's book did for the 1930s:
cemented the Legend of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp for as long as anyone
remembers the Old West. Recently (2009) I watched the episodes
contained in a boxed set of DVDs and was frankly astonished at Hugh
O'Brien's portrayal of Wyatt Earp. There was an edge, a darkness to his
Earp that I missed when I was young. O'Brien certainly captures the
nobility that Lake's book placed to the fore but the actor also
captured very subtly the coldness, the reserve, the calculating quality
of the real Earp. I now, half a century after first watching "The Life
and Legend of Wyatt Earp", have belatedly realized what a fine actor
Hugh O'Brien was. Thank you, Mr O'Brien!

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12 out of 14 people found the following review useful:

"Long Live His Fame And Long Live His Glory And Long May His Story Be Told"

Buried in the credits of The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp is the one
that lists Stuart N. Lake as the consultant. That makes it an official
Earp project.

Wyatt Earp had the distinct advantage that he lived long enough to have
outlived most of his contemporaries and then at the very end of his
life in 1929 commissioned his memoirs. Writer Stuart N. Lake did a
series of interviews with Wyatt before he died and it was on that basis
that a fine biography was published about him. Of course it was
strictly from the Earp point of view.

When Earp died, Lake became custodian of the legend. Most of the films
subsequently made concerning Earp if you'll look at the credits are
based on Lake's book. And of course Wyatt is a cowboy hero. It took the
recent films by Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell to kind of put Earp and
his accomplishments in perspective.

To deal with towns like the frontier Wichita, Dodge City, and Tombstone
you couldn't be a Boy Scout. Wyatt Earp was certainly not that and
neither were his brothers Virgil and Morgan. Still this show preserves
the legend as it would since it was based on the book of the legend
maker.

I don't think any real person has been so blessed as Wyatt Earp to have
had the variety of people playing him. Tom Mix, Randolph Scott, Joel
McCrea, Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, James Garner as
well as Russell and Costner, I can't think of anyone who's been better
preserved for posterity by Hollywood.

Add to the list Hugh O'Brian who got his career role in this series and
never was ever really able to shake loose from the casting. He's as
good a cowboy hero as they come.

Many of the stories from the series came from Lake's book. I urge you
to read it if you can find a copy. There have been a number of attempts
to debunk the Earp legend, but his fame and glory will live long, just
as the series theme tells us.

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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful:

Excellent

The 226 half-hour episodes of the western series "The Life and Legend
of Wyatt Earp" were originally broadcast on ABC from 1955-1961. This
DVD set contains a selection of 26 episodes from throughout the run of
the series. Thus the secondary title "From Ellsworth to Tombstone".

The series is somewhat obscure relative to that era's lineup of adult
westerns although it was the most realistic of the group and even
managed a surprising degree of historical accuracy. It is loosely based
on the career of the real-life Wyatt Earp (played by Hugh O'Brian) and
sequentially follows the assorted career moves and location changes of
this lawman/saloonkeeper.

The series starts with Wyatt becoming the marshal of Ellsworth, Kansas.
A few episodes later he moves to Dodge City (shades of "Gunsmoke's"
Marshall Dillon). The last two seasons take place in Tombstone, Arizona
and feature the famous shootout at the O.K. Corral (which is included
in this DVD set).

O'Brian's acting in the series is a vast improvement over his
performance in "Rocketship X- M" a few years earlier. He plays Earp as
a strong and rugged character but with a nice touch of humanness and
wry charm. Many sidekicks come and go over the course of the series but
none rise to the level of a Chester or Festus from "Gunsmoke" or even a
Pat Brady from "Roy Rogers". Two actors play Doc Holliday (Douglas
Fowley and Myron Healey) and Mason Alan Dinehart plays Bat Masterson.
Interviews with O'Brien and Dinehart are included on one of the DVD's.

Because the episodes were only a half-hour and because no cast member
other than O'Brian really caught on the reputation of the series has
suffered in comparison to other examples of the genre. But it features
some quality western action without the fluff and philosophy of the
longer shows. And it is fair to say that it had considerable influence
on development of the adult western series.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I'll tell you a story a real true life story. A tale of the Western
frontier. The West, it was lawless, but one man was flawless, And his
is the story you'll hear.

Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold. Long live his fame
and long life his glory, and long may his story be told.

Well he cleaned up the country, the old wild west country. He made law
and order prevail. and none can deny it The legend of Wyatt forever
will live on the trail.

Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp, brave courageous and bold. Long live his fame
and long life his glory and long may his story be told.

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:

Consistent , Absorbing Western Narratives; Memorable Action & Drama

This tremendously popular and long-running half-hour series featured
changes of locale, added characters and deaths, and in several cases
changes of the actors plying parts. Central to the proceedings from
first to last from 1955--1961 was lean and athletic Hugh O/Brian as a
plausible young Wyatt Earp. Into this the life of this fictionalized
American icon, other characters real and imagined were introduced. The
series was first located in Kansas cattle towns such as Wichita and
Dodge City; then O'Brian moved to Tombstone, Arizona. He became and
remained a town marshal during this time. Other regulars of note in
this very intelligently-made, innovative and realistic series--one
whose 'history' was decidedly not of a documentary variety--included
Lloyd Corrigan as Ned Buntline, Alan Dinehart as Bat Masterson, several
Doc Hollidays, Gloria Talbott, Don Haggerty, Denver Pyle, Damian
O'Flynn, Carol Stone as Kate Holliday, Selmer Jackson, Randy Stuart,
Wlliam Tannen, Paul Brinegar as Mayor "Dog" Kelly, Trevor Bardette as
Old Man Clanton, Steve Brodie as Sheriff Johnnie Behan, Ross Elliott
and others as Wyatt Earp's brothers, etc. The peculiar and memorable
structure of the show allowed "changes" in character, relationships,
locations, etc. when many series did not permit such alterations. In
addition, the show's producers used some actors in guest roles many
times, including Sam Flint, Steve Pendleton, Rico Alaniz and more.
Guest stars of note included Anna May Wong, Arthur Space, Ann Robinson,
Howard Petrie, George Wallace, Richard Travis, Robert Lowery, James
Coburn, Peggy Knudsen, Fay Baker, Carolyn Craig, Jim Bannon, Nancy
Hadley, Whitner Bissell, Angie Dickinson, Francis de Sales, Peter
Mamakos, Ed Nelson, Richard Devon, Lane Bradford, Dorothy Green and
John Vivyan, plus many more. Directors of record included Paul Landres
and Frank McDonald. The staff of writers included Frederick Hazlitt
Brennan, John Dunkel and Dan Ullman. These professionals kept up the
show's very consistent quality throughout, I suggest. During its run,
this series was shot by six cinematographers but only two art
directors, by Ralph Berger and Albert M. Pyke, created its authentic
western 'look'. Set decorations were done by Jack Mills and Kenneth W.
Swartz. Bruce Bilson was second-unit director, with Hollywood veteran
Roy Rowland as executive producer. The producers employed a gun expert,
several production specialists and very good but less-expensive talents
in order to keep up their high-standard of quality. The series ended
with a memorable five-part but not-very-accurate gunfight at the OK
Corral. This by my lights was a first-rate narrative TV series, I
assert, one which was much imitated for decades afterward. Also of note
was the show's theme song, whose picture of Earp set the tone for Eliot
Ness, The Lawman, and Kojack among many other TV lawmen to come.

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10 out of 19 people found the following review useful:

An Old-Fashioned Western

When TV Land recently began showing reruns of "Wyatt Earp," I had
forgotten that, apparently in the early episodes, the only music heard
was an a cappella male quartet. Not only did they sing the theme song,
but periodically during those episodes, to augment certain special
"drama," they would chime in, humming either low in the background for
sentimentality, or swelling to full volume when the emotions were
supposed to be at peak. The only lyrics heard were those of the theme
song; otherwise, the musical accompaniment consisted entirely of that
periodic humming in four-part harmony. Written out, it appeared,
"mmmm-oooooo-AAAAHHHH-OOOOOHHH!!" Bypassing a full orchestra was one
sure way to save a chunk of cash for the budget. Then in other, perhaps
later, episodes, orchestral music replaced that humming, and the a
cappella quartet only sang the theme song. I must admit that the
humming contributed a rather corny element to the show.

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4 out of 8 people found the following review useful:

Tough marshall cleans up Tombstone territory

I was a big fan of this show back when it was popular; I thought Wyatt
Earp
was 'the thing'. There was always plenty of action from Wyatt and Doc, and
when they weren't taking care of business, Shotgun Gibbs could be counted
on
for some good gunplay. Two of my favorite western actors were in this one
which was another reason for my interest - Myron Healy and Morgan
Woodward,
2 of tinseltown's primo bad guys [who did stoop to playing good guys every
now and then]. To see these two actors now I must watch some old western
that might pop up on tv from time to time. I'll wager the real Wyatt
wasn't
a handsome, flashy dresser like O'Brien: more like an unwashed thug. Ah,
Hollywood.

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1 out of 6 people found the following review useful:

Obviously, Hugh O'Brian starred in every episode

When this series was on it was my favorite show. Obviously, Hugh
O'Brian starred in every episode. His name should be shown at the top
of the cast list for the main series page as well as each episode page.

Season 1, Episode 1: Mr. Earp Becomes a Marshal Original Air Date: 6
September 1955

Season 1, Episode 2: Mr. Earp Meets a Lady Original Air Date: 13
September 1955

Season 1, Episode 3: Bill Thompson Gives In Original Air Date: 20
September 1955

Season 1, Episode 4: Marshal Earp Meets General Lee Original Air Date:
27 September 1955

Season 1, Episode 5: Marshal Earp's Romance Original Air Date: 4
October 1955

Season 1, Episode 6: The Man Who Lied Original Air Date: 11 October
1955

Season 1, Episode 7: The Gambler Original Air Date: 18 October 1955

Season 1, Episode 8: The Killer Original Air Date: 25 October 1955

Season 1, Episode 9: John Wesley Hardin Original Air Date: 1 November
1955

Season 1, Episode 10: The Bank Robbers Original Air Date: 8 November
1955

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5 out of 30 people found the following review useful:

Adonis plays lawman

Okay, here's my gripe. If you're going to make a Western series about a
famous American Old-West character with a MUSTACHE, which, by the way,
was the lawman's most prominent feature, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! MAKE THE
ACTOR GROW A CRUMMY MUSTACHE! Or, if he refuses, FOR PITY'S SAKE, HAVE
MAKE-UP GLUE ONE TO HIS UPPER LIP! I mean, THIS IS Hollywood, for
cryin' out loud!

Also, Wyatt Earp WAS NEVER MARSHALL OF TOMBSTONE! I don't know where
they got this stuff.

Hugh O'Brien (who was once introduced as "Hug" O'Brien on "The
Hollywood Palace" by Raquel Welch. She, of course was playing dumb-ditz
that night and it had to be explained by the host - Bing Crosby? - that
the "h" made the "g" silent) was a little froo-frooed with the silk
vest and all that.

And, what was up with that theme song? Any Western that had a
barber-shop quartet sing its theme song deserves no respect! "Wyatt
Earp. Wyatt Earp. Brave, courageous and bold. Long live his name and
long live his glory," etc. Please! The words were a bit more
Ivanhoe-ish than fit for a rootin' tootin' shoot 'em up Western.

All funnin' aside, yeah, as a tyke, I liked this show. It was a good
old Western with gun-slingin' and horses.